WASHINGTON — He’s not the Tea Party’s favorite Republican, but New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie got a warm reception from a group of conservatives who make up the hard-fighting base of the GOP — earning a standing ovation after a speech at the annual CPAC conference.

Christie, who still polls in the top tier of Republican candidates even after the George Washington Bridge scandal, tried to woo a powerhouse group that didn’t invite him last year because of some of his more moderate stances.

He told the crowd: “We don’t get to govern if we don’t win … Let’s come out of this conference resolved to win elections again.”

Christie stressed his pro-life record even in blue New Jersey, and bashed the media, a favorite conservative target. He slammed Democrats as the “party of intolerance,” but told the crowd the GOP needs to “talk about what we’re for, not what we’re against.”

But outside a National Rifle Association booth at the event, many attendees weren’t at all impressed.

Christie is “not conservative enough,” said Noor Akrawi, a student from Michigan.

The annual conference agenda was stocked with Republicans who are beloved by the party’s conservative wing. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) called for repealing “every word” of ObamaCare. He said in recent past elections, the party “stood for nothing — and we got walloped.”

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) — who, like Christie, hails from the party’s establishment wing, and who faces a primary — brandished a rifle onstage, and laced his remarks with praise for more conservative Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), who is retiring.